Category Archives: Politics

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland telephone conversation with U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt about the political crisis in Ukraine has been leaked onto the Internet.

Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland also denied a Russian claim that anti-government militants are trained on the grounds of the US embassy in Ukraine, calling it “pure fantasy”.

The conversation between Nuland and the US ambassador to Ukraine revealed an embarrassing exchange about the relative merits of Ukraine’s opposition leaders and their fitness for high office in a reformed Ukraine and included a crude American swipe at the European Union.

Nuland also assessed the political skills of Ukrainian opposition figures with unusual candor and, along with the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, debated strategy for their cause, laying bare a deep degree of U.S. involvement in affairs that Washington officially says are Ukraine’s to resolve.

Like this:

There has long been a bit of controversy about who gets asked to be interviewed on Sunday morning news shows. If it seems like the same elected officials keep showing up to be peppered with questions about the latest headlines and pressing matters that need national attention it is because that is the case week after week. At times the official is someone who has deep institutional memory and a background that makes for insightful programing such as with Arizona Senator John McCain. Other times the bombastic and headline seeking are allowed more time as they are so peculiar, and therefore seemingly more interesting as in the case of Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

I think it worth discussion as to how a select few continually get selected for the shows, when there is a huge number of qualified members of congress to pose questions to on any Sunday morning.

Washington (CNN) – Houston Democratic Mayor Annise Parker is pulling hard for state Senator Wendy Davis for Texas governor, but acknowledges it is still a “red state” and her fellow Democrat has a tough fight ahead of her.

Appearing in Washington this week, Parker expressed strong support for Davis, saying “it is possible” for her to win.

As the title above states, here are excerpts of an open letter to President Obama—“A Pardon for Oscar López Rivera”—published by Guillermo Rebollo-Gil (author and professor of sociology) in Counterpunch (28 November 2013). He is referring to a pardon for Oscar López Rivera, Puerto Rican political prisoner.

Dear President Obama:

Here in Puerto Rico, your lunch with now Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla is commemorated by way of a small plaque on the table in the restaurant where you paid cash for a sandwich in a button-down white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. [. . .] I share this because, like so many here, I have a somewhat distorted notion of history and of the events that comprise it. For example, I know that you are the 44th President of the U.S. and that you were first sworn into office on January 20th, 2009. I know this because I turned…